


Blood, Temper and Confessions

by skimmonslab



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Skimmons - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2758154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skimmonslab/pseuds/skimmonslab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye gets injured again, and when Jemma goes off on her, angry at her for her recklessness, Skye reacts in an awful manner. The way she apologizes to Jemma, leads to Skye revealing her feelings. (no sexy times, sorry if it sounds like there is)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood, Temper and Confessions

Ward helped Skye into the plane, his arm around her waist holding her steady as she stumbled. The blood pouring out of her nose and the instinctive tears that filled her eyes made walking in a straight line pretty difficult.

"SKYE!" Jemma yelled as she ran out of the lab, the sight of Ward dragging Skye behind him making her chest tighten in panic. It was too soon, the images of Skye’s blood covering her hands and the sight of her almost dead in that pod, were still too fresh in Jemma’s mind. This was supposed to be Skye’s first mission, after she begged Coulson for weeks to let her back into the field, and all of Jemma’s fears came true when she saw them stumbling into the aircraft.

"What happened?!" Jemma screeched as she took hold of Skye’s face and started inspecting her injury.

"I stopped a guys’ elbow with my nose!" Skye said and tried to grin, but it ended up being a grimace and lots of "Ow, ow, ow".

"For God’s sake, Skye!" Jemma huffed, realizing she was fine, the injury looking worse than it actually was. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No. My pretty face is the only thing that’s in danger."

Skye joked again, but it rubbed Jemma the wrong way and she turned on her heel and stomped ahead of them, storming into the lab and gathering all the material she’d need. Simmons was slamming and shoving boxes and drawers violently when Ward positioned Skye on one of the chairs.

Skye gave him a puzzled look when Jemma marched over, slammed a pile of gauze and large tweezers on the table next to her. Snapping her black gloves on, clearly annoyed, Simmons ordered in a stern voice “Chin up”.

Ward just stepped away, raising his hands behind Jemma, telling Skye ‘this is your problem’, and went over to Fitz to give him the equipment back.

 

Jemma dabbed at Skye’s face clearing it from the blood and despite her anger, relished in the sight of Skye’s pretty features reappearing underneath the caked layers of dirt and blood. Her movements were a bit rougher than usual and Skye had to flinch away when Simmons pressed against her injured nose with too much force.

"Ouch! Easy there."

"I apologize." Jemma said in a clipped tone, her apology sounding anything but true.

"I have a feeling I should apologize for something, but I have no idea what I did."

"No talking, please." Jemma said in that clipped tone again, and Skye wanted to call bullshit, but instead yelped in pain, when a wad of gauze was pressed against her nose.

"OW! Jesus, Simmons! Will you tell me why you’re pissed at me?"

"I’m not pissed at you."

"Wow, you really are the worst liar I’ve ever met."

Jemma just glared at her and started rubbing some cooling gel on Skye’s nose, all the way to her cheekbones. Admittedly, it was very difficult staying mad at Skye when she was gazing up at her like an innocent kid, with her big, brown eyes, believing without a doubt that Jemma was going to take care of her.

"You’re really not going to tell me why you’re mad?"

"Maybe I just don’t like having your blood on my hands all the time?!" Jemma hissed suddenly, making Skye flinch and Fitz and Ward both looked up from the equipment they had been inspecting.

Skye stared at her for a second.”Jemma, I’m sorry, but this kind of stuff happens all the time. We all keep getting injured-“

"That’s not the point." She snapped again and started throwing the used gauze and tissues into the bio-hazard bins.

"Then why don’t you tell me what is!" Skye stood up and started following her around the lab, as Jemma tidied up."It’s not like I got my nose broken because I wanted to!"

"It’s not broken, just a bit beat up. And of course I don’t think you did it on purpose, don’t be silly!"

"Then what’s the problem?!" Skye yelled.

"The problem is that I have to take care of you all the time! I’m unable to do my job because I keep worrying whether you’re alright and you seem to have absolutely no regard for your own well-being! I can’t go through this again!"

But Skye doesn’t hear the true meaning of Jemma’s words. 18 years of rejection and neglect, the numerous foster homes in which she was only a piece of furniture, where she was only a burden and was repeatedly reminded of her insignificance had conditioned her to understand Jemma’s words differently.

This is what she has been waiting for since she realized that she wanted to stay here and have these people care for her. She was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Skye kept waiting for that to happen even with Jemma Simmons, who was the sweetest, most loving person Skye had met. And getting rejected by Jemma was her worst, most painful fear, because for the first time Skye allowed herself to get attached and had decided to trust someone unconditionally. She finally had someone to turn to, someone who was there for her no matter what, even if that meant she had to hide her desire to kiss Simmons everywhere else but on the cheek.

Because of years of heartbreak and ruined trust, she understood Jemma’s words as a rejection and felt her chest tighten at the thought that Jemma’s affection and understanding had a limit. Once more, she has managed to push the people she cared for too far, testing their patience, and had discovered that no matter how much she wanted her new family to like her, their love was never unconditional.

All those years of frustration and pain were always just below the surface, waiting to spring back up at any moment, easily triggered. That familiar feeling, the one she experienced each time she was told she wasn’t good enough and that she was being sent back to the St. Agnes orphanage, squeezed her heart.

"Well if I’m such a burden, then maybe next time you should just let me die!! That way you won’t have to bother with me anymore and you can keep doing your experiments in your little rat hole!!" she hissed.

Jemma flinched back as if Skye had slapped her, skin going pale and eyes wide. Skye’s words hung in the air for a moment, before Ward and Fitz yelled simultaneously, drowning out Jemma’s feeble attempt at saying: “That’s not what I meant…”

"That’s not fair!" Ward protested, but Fitz was louder. "You apologize right now! She’s the reason you’re alive!!"

"I know that!"

"No, you clearly don’t!" He bellowed, surprising everyone. "She spent every second watching over you, and didn’t sleep or eat until we were sure you’re fine! Every time your heart stopped she brought you back and did her best not to fall apart!"

 

Skye turned to Jemma while Fitz was yelling and felt her heart break, not because of rejection, but because of the tears on Jemma’s cheeks. A pang of guilt twisted her stomach when she realized what a mistake she had made. ‘ _God damn it, I’m an asshole’_ , she thought.

Jemma glanced at her, the tears welling up, and the sadness and hurt Skye saw there made her think that maybe, just maybe, Jemma felt more than platonic love.

"You’re alive because of her, so instead of being an ungrateful brat, you apologize right now!" Fitz continued, one of his hands on his hip, but Skye didn’t hear him. She kept looking at the girl in front of her, unable to look away from the pain and heartbreak that were evident on her face.

"Jem-" Before Skye could finish her name, Jemma slipped around her and ran out of the lab.

"Jemma! Wait!" Fitz tried, but to no avail. Instead he turned to Skye and hissed "You fix this."

"Yeah, I’m on it."

"Fix it, Skye."

"I said I’m on it!"

 

She could hear Jemma’s footsteps getting more and more distant in one of the hallways leading to the multitude of supply closets and rushed in that direction.

"Jemma! Jemma, stop!"

‘’Just let me be, Skye!”

"Please, stop! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!"

Skye took a few running steps to catch up with the stubborn biochemist and grabbed her elbow, stopping her and turning her around. When she saw Jemma’s lower lip quiver and the tears sliding down her cheeks, Skye seriously considered slamming her face into one of the walls.

"I’m sorry… I didn’t want to….I didn’t want to say what I said. I didn’t mean it."

Jemma just nodded pitifully, swallowing the lump in her throat, looking anywhere but at Skye, her hands dutifully clenched in front of her. She looked so innocent and proper, in her cardigan and button up shirt, with her long brown hair, dainty, pretty features and soft, pink lips, that Skye couldn’t stand it anymore and almost pounced on Simmons, drawing her into a tight hug.

_‘Please, please don’t fight me_ ’, she silently willed Jemma and breathed a sigh of relief when Jemma melted into her.

More than anything she wanted to press her nose into Simmons’ neck and inhale her, but considering the state her face was in, she pressed her lips to the side of her throat and just kept whispering ‘I’m sorry’.

Slowly, Jemma circled Skye’s waist with her arms and leaned into her, resting her forehead on her shoulder.

‘’That was really mean.’’ Jemma croaked.

‘’I know.’’

‘’I… you don’t understand what it was like. They said that nothing could be done, that that was it, and we could only pull the plug if we wanted to. For a few minutes, we all thought you were really gone. I thought you were gone.’’

‘’I’m so sorry.’’ Skye said pressing her closer, placing a kiss on her neck. She felt Simmons shudder against her.

‘’And I tried doing everything, everything, to keep you alive and then you tell me I should’ve let you die! That was… that hurt, Skye. You don’t know how much.’’

‘’I… I never should’ve said that. I wasn’t thinking straight… You don’t know how….. I was always a burden. To everyone, from the nuns in St. Agnes to every single foster family, and I thought you were telling me to stop being a burden. That you were done with me.’’

‘’Skye!’’ Jemma gasped, realizing that no matter how tough and brave Skye acted, deep down she was still the scared foster kid that never found a home. ‘’I would never-‘’

‘’I know. I know now. I realize how stupid and mean that was, but that’s just my default reaction. My defensive mechanism. Attack and hurt the other person before they hurt me. I always do that.’’

‘’I would never hurt you.’’

‘’I believe that.’’

‘’I just worry about you all the time. I worry when I see your face flushed and whenever your breathing spikes. I was angry at you because I care too much.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ Skye said, pulling back, and took a moment to look at Jemma.

She couldn’t deny it anymore- she loved this girl, and it was even scarier because she realized she was past any romantic infatuation. In the beginning, she only loved her as a friend, the sort of platonic, unconditional love that is very often stronger than any sort of romantic emotion. Somewhere along the road, she fell in love with Jemma’s infinite kindness, weird quirks and intelligence. How delicate and easily flustered she was, but at the same time, didn’t blink before cutting a man open.

Suddenly, she needed Jemma to love her back and Skye constantly had to push aside her need to be physically close to her. She wanted to kiss and hug her, cuddle and crush her to her chest- do anything to quench the need that kept brewing in her chest, and show Jemma just how much she adored her.

 

Gathering some courage, she leaned in and intentionally kissed the corner of her mouth, taking her by surprise. Jemmas’ breath caught in her throat, her eyes immediately dropping to Skye’s mouth, hands squeezing her waist and that was all the encouragement Skye needed.

She slid her hands into Jemma’s hair and kissed her upper, then her bottom lip, waiting for a response. It took her a second but Jemma moved her mouth underneath Skye’s, opening up and letting Skye slide her tongue against her lower lip.

Their hands grasped at the other, Jemma’s hands on Skye’s back bunching up her black t-shirt and Skye trying not to pull Jemma’s hair too hard. The moment their tongues touched, they couldn’t allow an inch of space between them.

The dull sound of Jemma’s back hitting the metal wall of the airplane didn’t deter them, and Skye reached down, grabbing the back of Jemma’s thighs. ‘’Hop up.’’ She whispered into Jemma’s mouth and smiled when the scientist complied, hoisting herself up with the help of Skye’s shoulders and locking her legs around her waist. She used her hips to pin Jemma to the wall behind her, that way making the wall do most of the work, and grabbed handfuls of Jemma’s ass with the pretext of holding her up.

Skye relished in the feeling of having Jemma draped all over her, the warmth and pretty, girl scent invading all her senses, her arms around her shoulders, one hand on Skye’s jaw delicately holding her in place. In turn, Jemma moaned into Skye’s mouth, her mind going blank from the way Skye was kissing her, the way she already knew Jemma loved slow and sensual, opting between massaging her tongue against Jemma’s and paying special attention to her lips.

Jemma wanted more, so much more. She wanted to kiss Skye while naked so she could feel every inch of warm skin pressed against hers, wanted to fall asleep enveloped in Skye’s warmth and smell, but more than anything she wanted the freedom to do exactly this. The freedom to kiss her whenever she felt like it, grab the front of her shirt and just pull her in for a quick peck or grab her hand and drag her to her bunk in broad daylight. She wanted to finally be able to call Skye hers and stop concealing her feelings.

 

‘’Jem-‘’ Skye pulled away and leaned her head in the curve of Jemma’s neck, taking big gulps of air. Breathing in through her nose was practically impossible, but she was willing to sacrifice her air supply if that meant having Jemma moan into her mouth. Unfortunately, she couldn’t ignore the burning in her lungs for much longer.

‘’You can put me down now, if you’d like.’’ Jemma said as she gently stroked Skye’s cheeks.

Skye just shook her head and looked up, asking for a quick kiss.

‘’What are we doing?’’ Jemma asked, before she got lost in Skye again.

‘’I… I thought it was pretty obvious.’’

‘’No, I mean, what are we? Is this something we keep a secret and do occasionally or…’’ she trailed off and Skye urged her on. ‘’Ooorrr…’’

Jemma took a second to gather her courage. ‘’Or is this a relationship? Are we going to label it at all? Not that we have to, or talk about this now, but I just like to have everything clear from the start, because that way we’ll avoid any sort of uncomfortable moments and you do have me pinned to the wa-‘’

Her rant was cut short by Skye’s lips on hers. Skye pecked her two more times before leaning away and beaming up at her. ‘’You’re adorable, you know that?’’

‘’That doesn’t really answer my question.’’

‘’Look, Jem… I don’t know how to label this. The only thing I know is that I don’t want anyone else and that I’ve been thinking about you in a very inappropriate manner for months now. But you’re my Jemma, and that means more to me than any label we put on this. If it gives you a piece of mind, we’ll call it anything you want.’’

‘’Skye…’’ Jemma breathed, her eyes tearing up.

‘’No, no, don’t cry. Don’t cry. Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong again?’’

‘’No, it was all wonderful. You’re wonderful.’’ Jemma smiled before bouncing slightly in Skye’s hold and kissing her again. The little happy bounce made Skye lose her grip on Jemma and she tried to speak up quickly, before they both tumbled to the ground.

‘’Jemm-, Jemma, honey-‘’ she murmured in the seconds that her lips weren’t preoccupied. ‘’Honey, I think I need to put you down now.’’

‘‘Oh, of course’’. Jemma murmured as she slid down Skye’s front and before her feet found purchase on the ground, Skye had intertwined their fingers and was pulling her down the corridor.

‘’Where are we going?’’

‘’My bunk. Or yours. Doesn’t really matter.’’

‘’But- but, I’ve got…-the lab….’’

‘’I’ve been on a life-threatening mission and am injured. I need someone to nurse me back to health.’’ Skye grinned and ignored Jemma’s half-hearted protests which stopped by the time they reached the small, spiral staircase in the cargo hold.

She pushed her up the stairs first and was halfway up them herself, when Fitz came out of the lab.

‘’Was that Jemma? What happened?’’

Skye slouched down so she could see Fitz and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

‘’I told you I’d fix it.’’

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


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